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CERF 2017 Annual Report

Throughout 2017, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) supported relief operations in 36 countries to ensure delivery of urgent aid to millions of people in desperate need.

CERF’s 2017 Annual Report, launched today, provides a detailed account of how, during the year, CERF and its partners ensured strategic use of almost $420 million in donor contributions to deliver the highest priority aid, where and when it was need the most.

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“In 2017, I saw how CERF changed the lives of many … it is without question, one of our most important tools to reach people quickly and save lives,” Under-Secretary General (USG) for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, says in the foreword of the report.

CERF was quick to respond throughout the year, helping partners to kick-start relief efforts immediately when needs were revealed. Highlights in the report include CERF support for Rohingya refugees crossing borders towards safety and for many other displaced families around the world.

It also demonstrates the impact of early CERF funding following the warning signs of famine in north-east Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen and how CERF was a lifeline for people facing the consequences of natural disasters throughout the Caribbean and for those caught up in the world’s most underfunded crises such as in Afghanistan, Chad and Sudan.

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This would not have been possible without the generous support of CERF’s donors; they helped the fund to achieve record-level funding of $514.6 million, well beyond 2017’s $450 million funding target and a step towards its new $1 billion per year goal.

“We need a larger CERF so that more people will be reached with life-saving aid at the earliest stages of crises … a strong CERF able to deliver on its mandate is every Member State’s responsibility, and a step towards our commitments to leave no one behind and reach the furthest left behind first,” USG Lowcock added.